Method of cache management for dynamically disabling O state memory-consistent data

ABSTRACT

A multiprocessor data processing system includes an interconnect, a plurality of processing units coupled to the interconnect, and at least one system memory and a plurality of caches coupled to the plurality of processing units. A cache suitable for use in such a data processing system includes data storage containing multiple granules of data and a number of state fields associated with the granules of data. Each state field has a plurality of possible states including an O state indicating that an associated granule is consistent with corresponding data in the memory and has unknown coherency with respect to peer caches in the data processing system. The cache updates the state field from the O state to another of the plurality of states in response to a snooped transaction on the interconnect.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to the following co-pending applications,which are filed on even date herewith and incorporated herein byreference:

(1) application Ser. No. 09/339,408;

(2) application Ser. No. 09/339,406;

(3) application Ser. No. 09/339,405;

(4) application Ser. No. 09/339,404.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates in general to data processing and, inparticular, to cache management in a data processing system. Still moreparticularly, the present invention relates to a data processing system,cache, and method of cache management having an O state formemory-consistent cache lines.

2. Description of the Related Art

A conventional multiprocessor data processing system may comprise asystem bus to which a system memory and a number of processing unitsthat each include a processor and one or more levels of cache memory arecoupled. To obtain valid execution results in such a multiprocessor dataprocessing system, a single view of the contents of memory must beprovided to all of the processors by maintaining a coherent memoryhierarchy.

A coherent memory hierarchy is maintained through the implementation ofa selected coherency protocol, such as the conventional MESI protocol.According to the MESI protocol, an indication of a coherency state isstored in association with each coherency granule (e.g., cache line orsector) of at least all upper level (i.e., cache) memories. Eachcoherency granule can have one of four states, modified (M), exclusive(E), shared (S), or invalid (I), which is typically indicated by twobits in the cache directory. The modified state indicates that acoherency granule is valid only in the cache storing the modifiedcoherency granule and that the value of the modified coherency granulehas not been written to (i.e., is inconsistent with) system memory. Whena coherency granule is indicated as exclusive, the coherency granule isresident in, of all caches at that level of the memory hierarchy, onlythe cache having the coherency granule in the exclusive state. The datain the exclusive state is consistent with system memory, however. If acoherency granule is marked as shared in a cache directory, thecoherency granule is resident in the associated cache and in at leastone other cache at the same level of the memory hierarchy, all of thecopies of the coherency granule being consistent with system memory.Finally, the invalid state generally indicates that the data and addresstag associated with a coherency granule are both invalid.

The state to which each coherency granule is set can be dependent upon aprevious state of the cache line, the type of memory access sought byprocessors to the associated memory address, and the state of thecoherency granule in other caches. Accordingly, maintaining cachecoherency in the multiprocessor data processing system requires thatprocessors communicate messages across the system bus indicating anintention to read or write memory locations. For example, when aprocessing unit requires data not resident in its cache(s), theprocessing unit issues a read request on the system bus specifying aparticular memory address. The read request is interpreted by itsrecipients as a request for only a single coherency granule in thelowest level cache in the processing unit. The requested cache is thenprovided to the requester by a recipient determined by the coherencyprotocol, and the requester typically caches the data in one of thevalid states (i.e., M, E, or S) because of the probability that thecache line will again be accessed shortly.

The present invention recognizes that the conventional readrequest/response scenario for a multiprocessor data processing systemoutlined above is subject to a number of inefficiencies. First, giventhe large communication latency associated with accesses to lower levelsof the memory hierarchy (particularly to system memory) in state of theart systems and the statistical likelihood that data adjacent to arequested cache line in lower level cache or system memory willsubsequently be requested, it is inefficient to supply only therequested coherency granule in response to a request.

Second, a significant component of the overall access latency to systemmemory is the internal memory latency attributable to decoding therequest address and activating the appropriate word and bit lines toread out the requested cache line. In addition, it is typically the casethat the requested coherency granule is only a subset of a larger dataset that must be accessed at a lower level cache or system memory inorder to source the requested coherency granule. Thus, when systemmemory receives multiple sequential requests for adjacent cache lines,the internal memory latency is unnecessarily multiplied, since multipleadjacent cache lines of data could be sourced in response to a singlerequest at approximately the same internal memory latency as a singlecache line.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above and other shortcomings in the art recognized by thepresent invention, the present invention introduces the “O” cacheconsistency state, which permits unrequested memory-consistent andpossibly non-coherent data to be stored in a cache, thereby reducing aprocessor's access latency to memory-consistent data.

A multiprocessor data processing system that can implement the presentinvention includes an interconnect, a plurality of processing unitscoupled to the interconnect, and at least one system memory and aplurality of caches coupled to the plurality of processing units. Acache suitable for use in such a multiprocessor data processing systemincludes data storage containing multiple granules of data and a numberof state fields associated with the granules of data. Each state fieldhas a plurality of possible states including an O state indicating thatan associated granule is consistent with corresponding data in thememory and has unknown coherency with respect to peer caches in the dataprocessing system. The cache updates the state field from the O state toanother of the plurality of states in response to a snooped transactionon the interconnect.

All objects, features, and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent in the following detailed written description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are setforth in the appended claims. The invention itself however, as well as apreferred mode of use, further objects and advantages thereof, will bestbe understood by reference to the following detailed description of anillustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a first multiprocessor dataprocessing system with which the present invention may advantageously beutilized;

FIG. 2 is a high level block diagram of a cache in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a state transition table summarizing cache state transitions,snoop responses, and combined responses for various transactions on thesystem interconnect of the data processing system shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a block diagram depicting an illustrative embodiment of asecond data processing system in accordance with the present invention,which has a hierarchical interconnect structure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENT

System Architecture

With reference now to the figures and in particular with reference toFIG. 1, there is illustrated a high level block diagram of a firstmultiprocessor data processing system in accordance with the presentinvention. As depicted, data processing system 8 includes a number ofprocessing units 10 a-10 c coupled to a system interconnect 12. Eachprocessing unit 10 is an integrated circuit including one or moreprocessors 14. In addition to the registers, instruction flow logic andexecution units utilized to execute program instructions, each ofprocessors 14 also includes an associated level one (L1) cache 16, whichtemporarily stores instructions and data that are likely to be accessedby the associated processor 14. Although L1 caches 16 are illustrated inFIG. 1 as unified caches that store both instruction and data (bothreferred to hereinafter simply as data), those skilled in the art willappreciate that each of L1 caches 16 could alternatively be implementedas bifurcated instruction and data caches.

As further illustrated in FIG. 1, the memory hierarchy of dataprocessing system 8 also includes distributed system memories 22, whichform the lowest level of volatile data storage in the memory hierarchy,and one or more lower levels of cache memory, such as on-chip level two(L2) caches 18 and off-chip L3 caches 20, which are utilized to stagedata from system memories 22 to processors 14. As understood by thoseskilled in the art, each succeeding lower level of the memory hierarchyis typically capable of storing a larger amount of data than higherlevels, but at a higher access latency. For example, in an exemplaryembodiment, L1 caches 16 may each have 512 64-byte cache lines for atotal storage capacity of 32 kilobytes (kB), all at single cyclelatency. L2 caches 18 may each have 2048 128-byte cache lines for atotal storage capacity of 256 kB at approximately 10 cycle latency. L3caches 20 may each have 4096 256-byte cache lines for a total storagecapacity of 1 MB, at a latency of approximately 40-60 cycles. Finally,each system memory 22 can store tens or hundreds of megabytes of data atan even longer latency, for example, 300-400 cycles. Given the largedisparity in access latencies between the various levels of the memoryhierarchy, it is advantageous to reduce accesses to lower levels of thememory hierarchy and, in particular, to system memories 22.

System interconnect 12, which can comprise one or more buses or across-point switch, serves as a conduit for communication transactionsbetween processing units 10 and other snoopers (e.g., L3 caches 20)coupled to system interconnect 12. A typical transaction on systeminterconnect 12 begins with a request, which may include a transactionfield indicating the type of transaction, source and destination tagsindicating the source and intended recipient(s) of the transaction,respectively, and an address and/or data. Each device connected tosystem interconnect 12 preferably snoops all transactions on systeminterconnect 12 and, if appropriate, responds to the request with asnoop response. As discussed further below, such snoop responses arereceived and compiled by response logic 24, which provides a combinedresponse indicating what action, if any, each snooper is to take inresponse to the request. These actions may include sourcing data onsystem interconnect 12, storing data provided by the requesting snooper,etc.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that data processing system 8can include many additional components, such as bridges to additionalinterconnects, I/O devices, non-volatile storage, ports for connectionto networks or attached devices, etc. Because such additional componentsare not necessary for an understanding of the present invention, theyare not illustrated in FIG. 1 or discussed further herein.

Cache Architecture

With reference now to FIG. 2, there is depicted a more detailed blockdiagram of an illustrative embodiment of a cache 30 that may be utilizedto implement any of L1 caches 16, L2 caches 18 and L3 caches 20 inaccordance with the present invention. In the illustrative embodiment,cache 30 is a four-way set associative cache including a directory 32, adata array 34, and a cache controller 36. Accordingly, data array 34 ofcache 30 comprises a number of congruence classes that each contain fourways for storing cache lines. As in conventional set associative caches,memory locations in system memories 22 are mapped to particularcongruence classes within data array 34 utilizing predetermined indexbits within the system memory address.

As further shown in FIG. 2, each cache line within data array 34 issectored into two sectors 38 a, 38 b that can be individually accessedand modified. Although not required by the present invention, it isconvenient if the sector size utilized by each cache is the same as thecache line size of the associated higher level cache, if any. Forexample, if L1 caches 16 have 64-byte cache lines, L2 caches 18 and L3caches 20 preferably implement 128-byte (two 64-byte sectors) and256-byte (two 128-byte sectors) cache lines, respectively.

The cache lines stored within data array 34 are recorded in cachedirectory 32, which contains one directory entry for each way in dataarray 34. Each directory entry comprises a tag field 40, a status field42, a least recently used (LRU) field 44, and an inclusion field 46. Tagfield 40 specifies which cache line is stored in the corresponding wayof data array 34 by storing the tag bits of the system memory address ofthe cache line. As discussed in detail below, status field 42 separatelyindicates the coherency and/or consistency status of each sector of thecache line stored in the corresponding way of data array 34 utilizingpredefined bit combinations. LRU field 44 indicates how recently thecorresponding way of data array 34 has been accessed relative to theother ways of its congruence class, thereby indicating which cache lineshould be evicted from the congruence class in case of a cache miss.Finally, inclusion field 46 indicates whether or not each sector of thecache line stored in the corresponding way of data array 34 is alsostored in the local memory unit (i.e., cache or system memory) at thenext lowest level of the memory hierarchy.

Still referring to FIG. 2, cache controller 36 manages storage andretrieval of data within data array 34 and updates to cache directory 32in response to signals received from the associated components of thememory hierarchy and transactions snooped on system interconnect 12. Asillustrated, cache controller 36 maintains a read queue 50 and a writequeue 52 from which cache controller 36 performs updates to cachedirectory 32 and accesses to data array 34.

Cache State Protocol

In order to reduce high latency accesses to system memories 22, thepresent invention introduces the O state into the cache state protocolimplemented by cache controllers 36, where O state is defined as thestate of a data granule (e.g., cache line or sector) in cache that isconsistent with corresponding data in system memory but has unknowncoherency with respect to at least data stored in the caches at the samelevel of the memory hierarchy (i.e., peer caches). In this definition,consistency is defined as identity of corresponding data between a cacheand system memory, and coherency is defined as knowledge of which cachedcopy of data associated with a particular address, if any, is thecorrect data. Thus, a cache holding a data granule in O state has noinformation regarding the state of the data granule (e.g., M, E, S, orI) in remote caches.

The O state can be incorporated within any cache state protocol, such asthe conventional MESI protocol discussed above or a variant thereof. Ina minimal implementation of the O state in data processing system 8, L2and L3 caches 18 and 20 utilize the O state with only the M, S and Istates from the MESI protocol. In other embodiments, additional statesmay be utilized to maintain more state information. For example, anO_(R) state may be utilized to signify that a cache, among its peercaches in the memory hierarchy, is the cache that has most recentlyreceived O state data and is therefore responsible for sourcing the Ostate data granule to another cache in a cache-to-cache transfer. AnO_(M) state may also or alternatively be utilized to designate a cachethat has a shorter access latency to memory for a data granule than itspeer caches and that is therefore responsible, among its peer caches,for sourcing the O state data granule to another cache in acache-to-cache transfer. As discussed below, this cache state can beexplicit in a cache directory (e.g., in L3 caches 20) or can be implicitin the snoop responses and combined responses of the system interconnectcommunication protocol. In addition, an I_(P) state may be utilized tosignify that a data granule formerly held in O or O_(R) state is knownto be invalid and therefore should not be prefetched from lower levelcache or memory. A summary of state transitions for the O, O_(R), andI_(P) cache states is given below in Table I. For operations and statetransitions not listed in Table I, the I_(P) state otherwise behaves andinteracts with other states like the conventional MESI Invalid (I)state.

TABLE I Initial Next state Operation state Comments I prefetch hint or O(or coherence of O read another O_(R) if (or O_(R)) state sector ofcache used) sector unknown line since not snooped I_(P) prefetch hint orI_(P) no prefetch read another performed due to sector of cache cachedmodified line data O or O_(R) read request by I_(P) I_(P) inhibits anysnooper and future prefetches peer cache gives for sector modified snoopresponse O_(R) source sector to O other cache another cache that assumesstores sector in responsibility O_(R) state for sourcing O state sectorO or O_(R) data request by S coherence of any snooper and sector can becombined response determined from is shared or null combined snoopresponse O or O_(R) any write I data in O state is an image of memoryand is therefore invalid if a cache holds modified data

System Interconnect Communication Protocol

The snoop responses and combined responses utilized to governcommunication of data on system interconnect 12 depend upon the cachestate protocol implemented by L2 cache 18 and L3 cache 20. Assuming thatL2 caches 18 and L3 caches 20 have sectored cache lines containing twosectors each (as shown in FIG. 2), that separate cache states aremaintained for each sector, and that of the various possible cache linestates, L2 caches 18 a-18 c implement the M, S, I, O and O_(R) states,and L3 caches 20 a-20 c implement the M, S, I, and O states, therelative priorities of data sources for a request issued on interconnect12 are as follows (from highest to lowest):

(1) an L2 cache or L3 cache holding the requested sector in M state;

(2) the L3 cache beneath the requester (i.e., the local L3 cache)holding the requested sector in S state;

(3) an L2 cache holding the requested sector in O_(R) state;

(4) the local L3 cache holding the requested sector in O state;

(5) the L3 cache coupled to the system memory storing the requestedsector (in S or O state); and

(6) system memory.

In order to implement this priority scheme, data processing system 8implements the snoop responses shown in Table II, which lists the snoopresponses in order of descending priority.

TABLE II Snoop response Comment Retry retry the request MOD driven by anL2 or L3 cache holding requested sector in M state L3S driven by thelocal L3 cache if it holds the requested sector in S state L2O driven byan L2 cache holding the requested sector in O_(R) state L3O driven bythe local L3 cache if it holds the requested sector in O state Nulldefault response of any snooper

In addition to providing one of the snoop responses given in Table II inresponse to each request, snoopers within data processing system 8 mayalso provide a prefetch flag with the snoop response indicatinginformation regarding prefetching of the non-requested sector. In theembodiment of FIG. 3, the prefetch flags that may be provided in or withthe snoop response include NP (“no prefetch”), which indicates that thenon-requested sector should not be sourced to the requestor, forexample, because the snooper holds the non-requested sector in M state,and LP (“L3 prefetch”), which the local L3 cache provides if it holdsthe non-requested sector in O or S state to indicate that it will sourcethe non-requested sector. Thus, the priority of data sources for thenon-requested sector are: (1) the local L3 cache in S or O state; and(2) the L3 cache coupled to the system memory storing the sector or thesystem memory itself.

As noted above, the snoop responses (including prefetch flag(s), if any)are compiled by response logic 24, which provides one of the combinedresponses given in Table III to all snoopers coupled to systeminterconnect 12. In general, the combined response designates thesnooper driving the highest priority snoop response as the source of therequested data.

TABLE III Combined response Comment Retry requestor must retry therequest MOD L2 or L3 cache holding requested sector in M state willsource data L3S local L3 cache holding the requested sector in S statewill source data L2O L2 cache holding the requested sector in O_(R)state will source data L3O local L3 cache holding the requested sectorin O state will source data Null data will be sourced by the L3 cache infront of system memory from S or O state or from the system memoryitself

The prefetch flags that may be passed with or in the combined responseinclude NP, indicating that no data will be sourced for thenon-requested sector, and LP, indicating that the local L3 cache willsource the non-requested sector. If neither NP or LP is asserted, datafor the non-requested sector will be sourced from the L3 cache in frontof system memory, which may be required to fetch the data from systemmemory.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a state transition table 60 is given thatsummarizes cache state transitions, snoop responses and combinedresponses for various operating scenarios of data processing system 8.State transition table 60 assumes that L2 caches 18 a-18 c implement theM, S, I, O and O_(R) states (the O_(R) state is designated simply as R),that L3 caches 20 a-20 c implement the M, S, I, and O states, and thatsnoopers implement the system interconnect protocol described above.

Rows 62-80 of state transition table 60 illustrate state transitions dueto requests issued by L2 cache 18 a on system interconnect 12 to fillsector 0 with requested data identified by a memory address associatedwith a storage location in system memory 22 c. As shown in row 62, ifboth the requested sector and the non-requested sector are invalid inall caches coupled to system interconnect 12, all of L2 cache 18 and L3caches 20 provide Null snoop responses to the request. Response logic 24compiles these Null snoop responses and issues a Null combined response,which causes system,memory 22 c to source both the requested sector(sector 0) and the non-requested sector (sector 1) to L2 cache 18 a viaL3 cache 20 c. L2 cache 18 a holds the requested sector in S state andholds the non-requested sector in O_(R) state. In addition, local L3cache 20 a allocates a cache line for the data and stores the requestedsector and non-requested sector in S state and O state, respectively.

If, as shown in row 64, L3 cache 20 a holds the non-requested sector inO state and L3 cache 20 c holds the requested sector in O (or O_(M))state, all snoopers drive Null snoop responses, and L3 cache 20 aasserts the LP prefetch flag to indicate that it can source thenon-requested sector. Response logic 24 then compiles the Null snoopresponses and issues a Null combined response with the LP prefetch flagset. This combined response instructs L3 cache 20 c to source therequested sector (sector 0) and L3 cache 20 a to source thenon-requested sector (sector 1) to L2 cache 18 a. L2 cache 18 athereafter holds the requested sector in S state and holds thenon-requested sector in O_(R) state. Local L3 cache 20 a also snoops therequested sector and stores the requested sector in S state. L3 cache 20a does not update the state of the non-requested sector, however,because the system memory address associated with the non-requestedsector was not snooped.

Row 66 depicts a similar scenario in which L3 cache 20 c stores thesector requested by L2 cache 18 a in S state, and L3 cache 20 a storesthe non-requested sector in S state. The same snoop responses andcombined response are provided in this example, and the same cachessource the requested and non-requested sectors to L2 cache 18 a. L2cache 18 a thereafter holds the requested sector in S state and holdsthe non-requested sector in O_(R) state. Local L3 cache 20 a also snoopsthe requested sector and stores the requested sector in S state. L3cache 20 a does not update the state of the non-requested sector fromthe S state.

Referring now to row 68, an operating scenario is given in which L3cache 20 a holds the requested sector in O state and L3 cache 20 c holdsthe non-requested sector in O state. In response to the request by L2cache 18 a, L2 caches 18 a-18 c and L3 caches 20 b-20 c all provide Nullsnoop responses, and L3 cache 20 a provides an L3O snoop response toindicate that the local L3 cache holds the requested sector in O state.Response logic 24 compiles these snoop responses and issues an L3Ocombined response indicating that L3 cache 20 a is to source therequested sector and L3 cache 20 c is to source the non-requestedsector. After caching the data, L2 cache 18 a holds the requested sectorin S state and holds the non-requested sector in O_(R) state. Inaddition, local L3 cache 20 a caches the requested sector in S state andcaches the non-requested sector in O state.

Row 70 depicts a similar scenario in which local L3 cache 20 a storesthe sector requested by L2 cache 18 a in S state, and L3 cache 20 cstores the non-requested sector in S state. In response to the requestby L2 cache 18 a, L2 caches 18 a-18 c and L3 caches 20 b-20 c allprovide Null snoop responses, and L3 cache 20 a provides an L3S snoopresponse to indicate that the local L3 cache holds the requested sectorin S state. Response logic 24 compiles these snoop responses and issuesan L3S combined response indicating that L3 cache 20 a is to source therequested sector and L3 cache 20 c is to source the non-requestedsector. After caching the sourced data, L2 cache 18 a holds therequested sector in S state and holds the non-requested sector in O_(R)state. In addition, local L3 cache 20 a caches the requested sector in Sstate and caches the non-requested sector in O state.

With reference now to row 72, an operating scenario is given in which L2cache 18 b stores both the requested sector and the non-requested sectorin O_(R) state, L3 cache 20 a stores both sectors in O state, L3 cache20 b stores the non-requested sector in M state, and L3 cache 20 cstores both sectors in O state. As shown, L2 caches 18 a and 18 c and L3cache 20 c all provide Null snoop responses, L3 cache 20 b provides aNull snoop response with the NP prefetch flag set, L2 cache 18 bprovides an L2O snoop response, and L3 cache 20 a provides an L3O snoopresponse with the LP prefetch flag set. Because L2 cache 18 b is themost preferred source of the requested sector and a modified copy of thenon-requested sector exists, as evidenced by the assertion of the NPprefetch flag in a snoop response, response logic 24 provides an L2Ocombined response with the NP flag set, which instructs L2 cache 18 b tosource the requested sector and inhibits sourcing of the non-requestedsector. After the requested sector is sourced to L2 cache 18 a, thestates of the sectors in L2 cache 18 a are S and I, respectively. L3caches 20 a and 20 c are also able to upgrade the states of their copiesof requested sector from O to S.

If the scenario shown in row 72 were altered such that L3 cache 20 b didnot hold a valid copy of the non-requested sector and the communicationprotocol permitted L2 caches 18 to source non-requested sectors (e.g.,through the inclusion of an L2P prefetch flag having higher prioritythan the LP prefetch flag), L2 cache 18 b would source both therequested sector and the non-requested sector to L2 cache 18 a andupdate the state of its copy of the non-requested sector from O_(R) toO.

Row 74 of state transition table 60 illustrates an operating scenario inwhich L2 cache 18 b stores both the requested sector and thenon-requested sector in M state, L3 cache 20 a stores both sectors in Ostate, L3 caches 20 a and 20 c stores the requested sector in O state,and L3 cache 20 c stores the non-requested sector in O state. Asdepicted, L2 caches 18 a and 18 c and L3 cache 20 b and 20 c all provideNull snoop responses, L3 cache 20 b provides a MOD snoop response withthe NP prefetch flag set, and L3 cache 20 a provides an L3O snoopresponse. In response to these snoop responses, response logic 24provides an MOD combined response with the NP flag set, which indicatesthat L2 cache 18 b is to source the requested sector and that thenon-requested sector will not be sourced. After the requested sector issourced to L2 cache 18 a, the states of the sectors in L2 cache 18 a areS and I, respectively. L3 caches 20 a and 20 c are also able to upgradethe states of their copies of requested sector from O to S.

Referring now to row 76 of state transition table 60, an operatingscenario is given in which requesting L2 cache 18 a stores thenon-requested sector in O state, and L3 cache 20 c stores both therequested sector and the non-requested sector in O state. As shown, inresponse to the request by L2 cache 18 a, L2 caches 18 b-18 c and L3caches 20 a-20 c provide Null snoop responses, and L2 cache 18 aprovides a Null snoop response with the NP prefetch flag set to inhibitprefetching of the non-requested sector because L2 cache 18 a alreadystores an image of system memory in that sector. Response logic 24compiles these snoop responses and issues a Null combined response withthe NP prefetch flag set, which causes L3 cache 20 c to source therequested sector and inhibits sourcing of the non-requested sector. Atthe conclusion of the transaction, L2 cache 18 a stores the requestedsector in S state, and L3 cache 20 a snoops the requested sector andalso caches it in S state. L3 cache 20 c also updates the state of therequested sector from O to S.

Row 78 of state transition table 60 summarizes an operating scenario inwhich prior to the data request by L2 cache 18 a, L2 cache 18 b storesthe requested sector in O_(R) state, caches 18 a and 20 c store thenon-requested sector in S state, and L3 cache 18 a stores thenon-requested sector in O state. In response to the request by L2 cache18 a, L2 cache 18 c and L3 caches 20 b and 20 c issue Null snoopresponses, L2 cache 18 a issues a Null response with the NP flag setsince it already stores the non-requested sector in S state, L2 cache 18b issues an L2O snoop response, and L3 cache 20 a issues a Null snoopresponse with the LP prefetch flag set. Response logic 24 compiles thesesnoop responses and issues an L2O combined response with the NP prefetchflag set. As a result, L2 cache 18 b sources the requested sector to L2cache 18 a, and prefetching of the non-requested sector is inhibited.Thereafter, L2 caches stores the requested sector in S state, local L3cache 20 a allocates the requested sector and stores it in S state, andL2 cache 18 b updates the state of its copy of the requested sector fromO_(R) to S. A similar operating scenario is given in row 80, whichdiffers only in that L2 cache 18 a inhibits prefetching of thenon-requested sector since it stores it in M state, and local L3 cache20 a sources the requested sector, which L3 cache 20 a stores in Sstate, to L2 cache 18 a. Accordingly, in this example, only the state ofthe requested sector transitions (from I to S state).

Referring now to rows 82-86 of state transition table 60, threeoperating scenarios are given in which a cache holding a sector in an Ostate (i.e., O state or a variant thereof) updates the state of thesector through issuing an address-only query on system interconnect 12.Such address-only queries would preferably be very low-prioritytransactions that are utilized to update cache states during periods oflow cache activity (and low bus demand if system interconnect 12 is ashared bus). Any cache having the specified sector in an O state canupgrade the state of the sector to at least S state if no snooperresponds with a MOD snoop response, but all snooping caches holdingnon-modified copies of the sector (or at least all snooping caches in anO state) must invalidate their copies if a snooper responds within a MODsnoop response.

As illustrated, row 82 summarizes an operating scenario in which L3cache 20 a issues an address-only query specifying the memory address insystem memory 22 c associated with sector 0, which L3 cache 20 a holdsin O state. In response to the address-only query, all caches issue aNull snoop response except L2 cache 18 b, which provides an L2O snoopresponse to indicate that it holds the specified sector in O_(R) state.Response logic 24 compiles these snoop responses and issues an L2Ocombined response, which signifies to all snoopers that no snooper holdsthe specified sector in M state. Accordingly, both L2 cache 18 b and L3cache 20 a upgrade the state of the specified sector to S state. Andbecause the transaction code of the transaction identified it as anaddress-only query, neither the specified sector nor the non-specifiedsector is sourced on system interconnect 12.

Row 84 illustrates another example of an operating scenario in which L2cache 18 c issues an address-only query specifying a system memoryaddress in system memory 22 c for which L2 cache 18 c stores associateddata in sector 0 in O_(R) state and L2 cache 18 a and L3 cache 20 cstore associated data in S state. In response to this address-onlyquery, all caches provide Null snoop responses, and response logic 24accordingly provides a Null combined response. As a result, L2 cache 18c upgrades the state of sector 0 from O_(R) state to S state.

Referring now to row 86, an exemplary operating scenario is given inwhich L3 cache 20 a issues an address-only query specifying a memoryaddress in system memory 22 c for which L3 cache 20 a stores data in Ostate, L2 cache 18 b stores data in M state, and L3 cache 20 c storesdata in S state. As shown, L2 cache 22 b issues a MOD snoop response,and all other snoopers issue Null snoop responses. Accordingly, responselogic 24 issues a MOD combined response, and L3 caches 20 a and 20 cboth downgrade the states of their copies of the specified sector to Istate.

Although not illustrated in state transition table 60, in embodiments inwhich the system interconnect communication protocol provides a Nullcombined response to an address-only query only when peer caches of therequesting cache do not have a copy of the specified sector, therequesting cache can update the state of the specified sector from an Ostate to E state.

Hierarchical Implementation of O_(R) State

As noted above, the O_(R) state is utilized to indicate which cache (ifany), from among the caches connected to a common interconnect, isresponsible for sourcing requested or prefetch data from O state. Asshown in the exemplary processing scenarios outlined above, only onecache at a particular level of the memory hierarchy can have aparticular data granule stored in O_(R) state at a time. However, when adata processing system includes multiple snooped interconnects, onecache on each separately snooped interconnect can have the same datastored in O_(R) state.

For example, with reference now to FIG. 4, there is illustrated a blockdiagram of a second data processing system in accordance with thepresent invention, which has a hierarchical interconnect structure andcan support multiple caches concurrently storing the same data granulein O_(R) state. As depicted, data processing system 100 includes threeclusters 102 a-102 c, which are each connected to a lower levelinterconnect 130 to which system memory 132 and other interconnects anddevices may be coupled. Clusters 102 a-102 c are of identicalconstruction, and each contains an upper level interconnect 126 to whichfour processing units (respectively identified by reference numerals 110a-110 d, 112 a-112 d, and 114 a-114 d) and an L3 cache 128 areconnected. As with processing units 10 of FIG. 1, the processing unitsdepicted in FIG. 4 each contain an L2 cache.

In a preferred embodiment, the O_(R) state is implemented hierarchicallywith the following rules:

(1) O_(R) designates one cache among the peer caches commonly connectedto a snooped interconnect that is responsible for sourcing data in Ostate to other peer caches coupled to the snooped interconnect;

(2) a cache holding data in O_(R) state can also source the data to anassociated higher level cache within the cache hierarchy (i.e., a higherlevel cache in the same cluster); and

(3) the most recent recipient of prefetch data enters O_(R) state andmust thereafter transition to O state when another peer cache entersO_(R) state.

As an example of the operation of O_(R) state in a hierarchicalimplementation, assume that L2 cache 120 a, which has cache state of I/Ifor the sectors of a particular cache line, issues a read request forsector 0 of the cache line. The cache states of L2 caches 110 b-110 dfor the cache line in question are I/I, O_(R)/I, and O/I, respectively,and the cache states of L3 caches 128 a-128 c are S/I, O/O, and O/O_(R),respectively. Because L3 cache 128 a records S state for the requestedsector, it is known that the requested sector in not modified in anothercache. Therefore, L2 cache 120 c sources the requested sector to L2cache 120 a and transitions to S state. In addition, L3 cache 128 aforwards the read request to lower level interconnect 130 in order toprefetch the non-requested sector (sector 1). In response to snoopingthe read request, L3 cache 12 c sources sector 1 and updates the stateof sector 1 to O state. L3 cache 128 a updates the state of sector 1 toO_(R) state and supplies sector 1, the prefetch data, to L2 cache 120 a.L2 cache 120 a then updates the states of sectors 0 and 1 to S andO_(R), respectively.

As has been described, the present invention provides an improved cachestate protocol that permits memory-consistent data of unknown coherencyto be stored in the cache memory of a data processing system in an Ostate in order to reduce access latency to an image of memory.Advantageously, the present invention permits the state of suchmemory-consistent data to be updated both in response to snoopingrequest transactions issued by other caches and in response toaddress-only queries and conditional read transactions issued by thecache storing data in O state. In addition, data held in O state may besourced to other caches, both as requested data and as prefetch(non-requested) data through the implementation of the O_(R) and/orO_(M) states.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cache for use in a data processing systemhaving a memory, a plurality of processing units coupled to aninterconnect, and a plurality of caches that are each associated with arespective one of said plurality of processing units, said cachecomprising: data storage including a plurality of data granules; aplurality of state fields associated with said plurality of datagranules, wherein each state field among said plurality of state fieldshas a plurality of possible states including a first state indicatingthat an associated data granule is consistent with corresponding data inthe memory and has unknown coherency with respect to a peer cache amongthe plurality of caches; and a cache controller that updates aparticular state field among said plurality of state fields associatedwith a particular data granule among said plurality of data granulesfrom said first state to another of said plurality of states in responseto a snooped communication transaction on the interconnect.
 2. The cacheof claim 1, wherein said plurality of caches and the memory belong to amemory hierarchy having at least one lower level, and wherein said cachecontroller sets said particular state field to said first state inresponse to said cache loading, into said particular data granule, datasupplied from said lower level that is not required by said cache tosatisfy a data request.
 3. The cache of claim 1, said plurality ofstates including at least a second state indicating that an associateddata granule is coherent with corresponding data in peer caches amongthe plurality of caches, wherein said cache controller updates saidparticular state field to said second state in response a remoteprocessing unit making a read request specifying a memory addressassociated with said particular data granule.
 4. The cache of claim 3,wherein said cache controller sources said particular data granule tosaid remote processing unit in response to a null response to said readrequest when said particular state field is set to said first state. 5.The cache of claim 1, said plurality of states including at least asecond state indicating that an associated data granule is both invalidand consistent with memory, wherein said cache controller updates saidparticular state field to said second state in response to an indicationthat a peer cache among said plurality of caches stores a modified copyof said particular data granule.
 6. The cache of claim 1, said pluralityof states including at least a second state indicating that anassociated data granule is both exclusively held and consistent withmemory, wherein said cache controller updates said particular statefield to said second state in response to a local processing unit amongsaid plurality of processing units requesting a copy of said particulardata granule and receiving a null response via said interconnect.
 7. Thecache of claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of data granules is acache line sector.
 8. A data processing system, comprising: aninterconnect and a plurality of processing units coupled to saidinterconnect; at least one system memory coupled to said plurality ofprocessing units; a plurality of caches coupled to said plurality ofprocessing units, wherein a cache among said plurality of cachesincludes: data storage including a plurality of data granules; aplurality of state fields associated with said plurality of datagranules that each have a plurality of possible states including a firststate indicating that an associated data granule is consistent withcorresponding data in the memory and has unknown coherency with respectto a peer cache among the plurality of caches; and a cache controllerthat updates a particular state field among said plurality of statefields associated with a particular data granule among said plurality ofdata granules from said first state to another of said plurality ofstates in response to a snooped communication transaction on theinterconnect.
 9. The data processing system of claim 8, wherein saidplurality of caches and the memory belong to a memory hierarchy havingat least one lower level, and wherein said cache controller sets saidparticular state field to said first state in response to said cacheloading, into said particular data granule, data supplied from saidlower level that is not required by said cache to satisfy a datarequest.
 10. The data processing system of claim 8, said plurality ofstates including at least a second state indicating that an associateddata granule is coherent with corresponding data in peer caches amongthe plurality of caches, wherein said cache controller updates saidparticular state field to said second state in response a remoteprocessing unit among said plurality of processing units making a readrequest specifying a memory address associated with said particular datagranule.
 11. The data processing system of claim 10, wherein said cachecontroller sources said particular data granule to said remoteprocessing unit in response to a null response to said read request whensaid particular state field is set to said first state.
 12. The dataprocessing system of claim 8, said plurality of states including atleast a second state indicating that an associated data granule is bothinvalid and consistent with memory, wherein said cache controllerupdates said particular state field to said second state in response toan indication that a peer cache among said plurality of caches stores amodified copy of said particular data granule.
 13. The data processingsystem of claim 8, said plurality of states including at least a secondstate indicating that an associated data granule is both exclusivelyheld and consistent with memory, wherein said cache controller updatessaid particular state field to said second state in response to a localprocessing unit among said plurality of processing units requesting acopy of said particular data granule and receiving a null response viasaid interconnect.
 14. The data processing system of claim 8, whereineach of said plurality of data granules is a cache line sector.
 15. Amethod of tracking status of data in a cache of a data processing systemhaving a memory, a plurality of processing units coupled to aninterconnect, and a plurality of caches that are each associated with arespective one of said plurality of processing units, said methodcomprising: storing a plurality of data granules in a cache among aplurality of caches; setting a particular state field associated with aparticular data granule among said plurality of data granules to a firststate among a plurality of possible states to indicate that saidparticular data granule is consistent with corresponding data in thememory and has unknown coherency with respect to a peer cache among saidplurality of caches; and thereafter, updating said particular statefield to another of said plurality of states in response to a snoopedcommunication transaction on the interconnect.
 16. The method of claim15, wherein said plurality of caches and the memory belong to a memoryhierarchy having at least one lower level, and wherein said setting stepcomprises setting said particular state field to said first state inresponse to said cache loading, into said particular data granule, datasupplied from said lower level that is not required by said cache tosatisfy a data request.
 17. The method of claim 15, said plurality ofstates including at least a second state indicating that an associateddata granule is coherent with corresponding data in peer caches amongthe plurality of caches, wherein said updating step comprises updatingsaid particular state field to said second state in response a remoteprocessing unit making a read request specifying a memory addressassociated with said particular data granule.
 18. The method of claim17, and further comprising sourcing said particular data granule to saidremote processing unit in response to a null response to said readrequest when said particular state field is set to said first state. 19.The method of claim 15, said plurality of states including at least asecond state indicating that an associated data granule is both invalidand consistent with memory, wherein said updating step comprisesupdating said particular state field to said second state in response toan indication that a peer cache among said plurality of caches stores amodified copy of said particular data granule.
 20. The method of claim15, said plurality of states including at least a second stateindicating that an associated data granule is both exclusively held andconsistent with memory, wherein said updating step comprises updatingsaid particular state field to said second state in response to a localprocessing unit among said plurality of processing units requesting acopy of said particular data granule and receiving a null response viasaid interconnect.
 21. The cache of claim 1, wherein said first stateindicates that said associated granule has unknown coherency withrespect to a corresponding valid data granule held in said peer cache.22. The processing unit of claim 1, comprising: a processor core; and acache hierarchy including at least one cache.
 23. The data processingsystem of claim 8, wherein said first state indicates that saidassociated granule has unknown coherency with respect to correspondingvalid data granule held in another of said plurality of caches.
 24. Themethod of claim 15, wherein: said method further comprises storing acorresponding valid data granule in the peer cache; and said first stateindicates that said associated granule has unknown coherency withrespect to said corresponding valid data granule held in said peercache.